This is my Confession on the Doctrine of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I wrote it for my Systematic Theology 2 class, and thought I would share it here.

On The Son

Prolegomena
I believe God’s intention toward His good Creation is Rescue and Restoration, despite Human Rebellion; even when Humans were Rebels, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die in order to rescue and restore. (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:8)

God and Redemption
I believe God enacted His Redemptive Plan by invading the world as a human, by becoming like us; the Father willingly gave His one and only unique Son Jesus Christ to live the sinless life we could not, pay the penalty for sin, and defeat Death. (Jn. 1:10-14; 3:16-21)

Person of Jesus
I believe Jesus is one Person with two full Natures; Jesus is a single Person who is fully Divine and fully Human. As a Divine Being, Jesus possess all the attributes of God; as a Human Being, Jesus possesses all the attributes of Humanity, including Body and Soul. (Jn. 1:1, 14)

I believe you cannot give a positive statement regarding Jesus’ one person and two natures without underemphasizing either His oneness or two natures. Therefore, it is best to say that Jesus’ two natures are without confusion, without change, without division, and without separation; the natures of Jesus cannot be confused or changed, neither can they be divided or separated. (Council of Chalcedon)

I believe Jesus could sin, but would not because He had a strong moral will. Jesus chose to consciously operate as a full Human, which allowed for the possibility of sin, without using His Deity to cheat. Therefore, since He was really a Human and resisted the temptation to Sin all the way to the end, He could trace the steps of Human Rebellion and set things to rights for Humans and the World. (Heb. 2:14-18)

I believe, in His humanity, Jesus was finite, but not fallen; while Jesus was physically susceptible to the things in a fallen world that could hurt any human (e.g. sickness and disease, bruising from a fall, mistakes from the learning process, and death), Jesus could not suffer internally from guilt, corruption, or sin, nor from confusion or mental illness. (Jn. 1:14; Heb. 2:14-18)

Work of Jesus
I believe Jesus is the Victorious Obedient Substitute, and His Redemptive Act rescues and restores Creation in this way: Through His Life, Jesus obeyed God perfectly after the First Adam did not, while demonstrating how we are to live as Humans; through His Death, Jesus paid the final penalty to God for Rebellion on behalf of all Humans through a final sacrifice, thus restoring Humans to relationship with God; through His Resurrection, Jesus defeated the Dark Powers to liberate all Humanity from Satan’s control and free us from the bondage of Evil and Sin. (Heb. 4:14-15; 10:1-18; Rom. 6)

I believe through Jesus’ Life: His baptism commissioned Him for ministry and empowered Him by the Holy Spirit to retrace Adam’s steps, defeat the Dark Powers, and restore the God-Man relationship through His sacrifice; He perfectly obeyed God’s moral law throughout His life, resisting the temptation to sin when Adam gave in and disobeyed God’s Way; and His words and deeds taught Humanity how to obey the will of God, while actually defeating Evil. (Rom. 5:12-21)

I believe through Jesus’ Death, He bore the punishment and guilt for all Human Rebellion, making peace between God and Humans and leading to the adoption of people by God the Father as Sons and Daughters. (Rom. 5:1-2; Gal. 4:4-8)

I believe through Jesus’ Resurrection, He triumphed over the Dark Powers, making a mockery of them, and revealed that the Father accepted His sacrifice on behalf of Humans. Furthermore, we are raised to New Life through His defeat of Death, and we are declared and made righteous before God. (Rom. 4:25; Col. 2:13-15; 1 Cor. 15)

I believe through Jesus’ Ascension, we have an enthroned Lord who is now ruling over the entire world and working on our behalf by empowering us to live the Way of God that Adam did not. (Heb. 2:1-18; 7:23-25)

I believe God intends to rescue and restore all of Humanity. Thus, in coming to Earth, Jesus intended to redeem all of Humanity through His Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. His Redemptive Act is sufficient for all Humans and effective for everyone who will eventually embrace Jesus as Lord. (1 Tim. 2:4-6, 4:9-10)

On The Holy Spirit

Person of the Holy Spirit
I believe the Holy Spirit should be thought of as a personal entity, because he refers to himself in personal language (i.e. I and me). (Acts 13:2)

I believe the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead, coequal with the Father and Son. (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Cor. 12:4-6; 1 Pet. 1:2)

I believe the Holy Spirit possesses personal characteristics, such as intelligence, will and emotions. As an intelligent Being, He teaches humans all things; as a willful Being He gives gifts (spiritual and personal) as He wills; as an emotional Being, He can be grieved, lied to and blasphemed, and ministers to and convicts humans. (Jn. 14:26; 1 Cor. 12:11; Eph 4:30; Acts 5:3-4; Matt. 12:31; Mark 3:29; Rom. 8:26; Jn. 16:8)
I believe the Holy Spirit is identified as God, possesses the perfections of God, and does the works of God. The Holy Spirit is omniscient, omnipotent, and eternal. (1 Cor. 2:10-11; Jn. 16:13; Luke 1:35; Rom. 15:19; Heb. 9:14)

Work of the Holy Spirit
I believe the Holy Spirit’s role is as Agent; by the Holy Spirit, the Godhead accomplishes their works in cooperation with the Father and the Son (e.g. Salvation is from the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit).

I believe the Holy Spirit’s presence is found in the Old Testament through several movements: He acted with the Father and Son in the Creation Event; He has acted on behalf of God’s people through acts of divine care; He empowered Old Testament civil leaders (e.g. the Kings and Judges), directed craftsmanship (e.g. The building of the Tabernacle), and anointed prophets (e.g. Isaiah and Ezekiel); and He helped accomplish certain salvific events (such as The Exodus). (Gen. 1:2; Ps, 104:29-30; 1 Sam. 16:13; Ex. 31:3-5; Ez. 2:2, 8:3, 11:1, 24)

I believe the Holy Spirit participated in the Redemptive Event of Jesus Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was conceived, empowered at baptism, directed into the wilderness to be tempted, taught, performed miracles, offered Himself as a sacrifice, and resurrected. (Lk. 2:52; Matt. 3:16; 4:1; Lk. 4:14, 18-21; Matt. 12:25-32; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 3:18)

I believe at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit created a new people of God under a new covenant–specifically the Church–and imbues that community with new life, while commissioning them with a new mission. (1 Cor. 12:13; Rom. 8:1-4; Jn. 14:16-18, 26; Matt. 28:19-20)

I believe the Holy Spirit indwells individuals after salvation to bring spiritual rebirth, empower them to live the Church’s mission, illuminate the Holy Scriptures, intercede for them, sanctify their life, seal them in relationship with God, and impart particular spiritual and sign gifts.
(Titus 3:5; Eph. 5:18; 1 Cor. 6:12-20; 2:10-16; Eph. 6:18; Gal. 5:16-26; Eph. 1:13-14; Eph. 4:11, Rom. 12:6-8, 1 Pet. 4:11, 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 28)

I believe the Holy Spirit is working to bring ultimate, cosmic restoration to the entire world as an agent applying Jesus Christ’s work.

Doxology
Thanks be to God forever, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.